Stocks fall on profit-taking

KARACHI: After two consecutive positive sessions, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a volatile trading day on Wednesday, driven by strategic profit-taking.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 39.36 points, or 0.03 percent, to close at 118,536 points on Wednesday compared to 118,576 points on Tuesday. During the intraday trading, the index touched a high level of 119,460 points and low level of 118,148 points. Overall, some 609 million shares were traded on Wednesday down from 684 million a day earlier.

Analysts said that after two consecutive sessions of a powerful bull run, the local bourse witnessed a hot-and-cold trading day, marked by heightened volatility and strategic profit-taking.

On Wednesday, BRIndex100 opened at 12,643.50 points and finally closed at 12,670.63 points which was 27.13 points or 0.21 percent higher than previous close. Total volume at BRIndex100 remained 507.729 million shares. BRIndex30 also gained a meagre 74.52 points or 0.2 percent to settle at 37,367.47 points with the total volume of 315.973 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp observed that stocks closed flat amid uncertainty ahead of Federal Budget FY26 which will be announced in less than three-week time only coupled with the dismal data on car sales which showed downward trends on month-on-month basis in April2025. Extensive tax regulation on cement distributors also impacted the sentiments of the market. While concerns over ongoing tensions over Pak India diplomatic ties, and rupee instability also played a catalyst role in bearish close, he added.

Moreover, the share trading value decreased to Rs. 42 billion on Wednesday compared to Rs 52.58 billion a day earlier. The market capitalization increased by only Rs 6 billion to reach Rs. 14.211 trillion.

At-Tahur Ltd. was the volume leader with around 39 million shares and closed at Rs 44.84 followed by Fauji Cement that closed at Rs 47.86 with around 36 million shares. Sui South Gas again ranked third with share trading of 32.3 million shares and it closed at Rs 36.07.

PIA Holding Company LimitedB along with Khyber Textile Mills Limited remain the top gainers increasing by Rs 935.96 and Rs 88.92 respectively to close at Rs 10,295.59 and Rs 978.13, while Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited and Hoechst Pakistan Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 236.35 and Rs 137.93 respectively to close at Rs 22,676.15 and Rs 3,260.00.

According to Topline, the session saw a tug-of-war between gainers and losers, with heavyweights such as ENGROH, FFC, MEBL, and UBL leading the charge on the upside, collectively adding 470 points to the index. However, the rally lost some steam as OGDC, MCB, BAHL, and MARI dragged the index down by a combined 354 points, offsetting much of the early momentum.

BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 22,336.18 points, rising by 64.45 points or 0.29 percent, with a turnover of 6.99 million shares. BR Cement Index surged to 10,140.61 points, posting a strong gain of 332.88 points or 3.39 percent, on a turnover of 125.32 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index declined at 34,199.32 points or 0.26 percent, with 34.95 million shares traded. Meanwhile, BR Power Generation and Distribution Index ended at 19,520.99 points, slipping by 142.67 points or 0.73 percent, with a turnover of 37.44 million shares.

BR Oil & Gas Index also lost 112.28 points or 0.94 percent, on 73.021 million shares turnover. BR Technology & Communication Index finished at 4,904.66 points marking a positive change of 37.52 points or of 0.77 percent, with total turnover of 62.327 million shares traded.

Analysts at JS said with OGDC, MCB, PSO, HBL and BAHL leading gains. The IMF-Pakistan talks, focusing on budgetary measures and reforms, kept sentiment cautious, causing selective profit-taking. Moving forward, they said that market direction depends on IMF negotiations, fiscal clarity, and economic policy shifts. A favorable IMF outcome could support further upside, while uncertainty may trigger volatility, they added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025